The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is Australia's national transport safety investigator. The ATSB's function is to improve safety and public confidence in the aviation, marine and rail modes of transport. The ATSB is Australia's prime agency for the independent investigation of civil aviation, rail and maritime accidents, incidents and safety deficiencies.

Summary

Summary

On 10 January 2012, a Dornier Werke GMBH 328-100
aircraft, registered VH-PPJ, landed at Horn Island Airport,
Queensland, after having departed Cairns, Queensland to
conduct a search and rescue operation with two flight crew and
three technical crew onboard.

The aircraft touched down on the runway normally, at
about 48 kts, the pilot flying released the power levers from the
reverse thrust position, the right propeller moved to a ground idle
position but the left propeller remained in the reverse thrust
position and the aircraft veered off the side of the runway.

The FO attempted to correct the deviation through
rudder input; however, despite full right rudder, the aircraft
continued to diverge left. At the same time, the nose-wheel
weight-on-wheels sensor showed the nose wheel alternating between
ground and air modes, resulting in the nose-wheel steering not
being operational.

A subsequent engineering inspection found that the
left power lever appeared not to spring as far forward as the right
power lever when released from reverse thrust. The levers and shaft
assembly were inspected and found to be serviceable. A lubrication
of the springs in the reverse thrust system was carried out.

The operator reported that the thrust levers required
positive handling to move from the reverse thrust to the ground
idle position, rather than relying on the spring tension. The first
officer did not recall receiving specific instruction on operating
the power levers.

The operator advised the ATSB that it had conducted
the following safety action: All crew have been alerted to
potential difficulties with the operation of power levers; an
external advisor has been recruited to review the safety system and
check and training program; the organisation is assessing the
ongoing introduction of simulator training.